Manufacture of looped fabrics



Sept. 20, 1955 F. SEILER 2,718,129

I MANUFACTURE OF LOOPED FABRICS Filed Oct. 9, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Fig.1

. M 10 r '10 l :TLL: 4 5 4 11 I I "I" HI lnl H I I! I I: H L a lINVENTOR Fn'ftz Sei 161 W; A T TOR/V5 S Sept. 20, 1955 F. SEILER2,713,129

MANUFACTURE OF LOOPED FABRICS Filed Oct. 9, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M 3 J1J1 INVENTOR! FP/ZZ Sl/QF 4 7 TOP/Vi"? United States Patent "OMANUFACTURE E LOOPED FABRICS Fritz Seller, Auvernier, near Neuchatel,SwitzerlaniLassignor to Edouard Dubied &. Cie (Societe Anonyme),Neuchatel, Switzerland 1 Application October 9, 1951, Serial No. 250,442Claims. priority, application. Switzerland October 12,1950 Claims. c1.66-6) My present invention relates to a method for manufacturing loopedfabrics by means of two rows of staggered needles Whichthrow off theirloops towards. each other. My present method is characterised in that,subsequently to yarn-sinking .or drawing which is carried outalternately by individual needles of the two. rows, the individuallymovable needles of one row are moved in turn forwardly and rearwardlyfor the purpose of looping, andin. that, independently-thereof, all theneedles of the other row are actuated together for the purpose ofthrowing off the loops; the whole with a view of manufacturing adouble-faced looped fabric which on one side comprises knit loops and,on the otherside, sunk or drawn loops.

For economical and, above all, practical reasons, no use is made ofconventional flat knitting machines having two needle beds.

When using my present method, racked, openwork, colorand fancy-patternsare obtainable in a very simple way and manner.

By virtue of disengaging .theneedlesvof one row from the loop-sinkingordrawing. means, ,the apparatus con,- structed forcarrying out my presentmethod is suited for manufacturing plain or common hosiery or.single-faced inlaid fabric in solid colors.

The. said knitting apparatusalso forms part of. my

present invention and; comprises a conventional yarn guide which feedsthe yarn alternately to.- individual needles in a needle bed and toindividual needles in a needle bar, acam box being reciprocated alongthe needle bed to movethe individually-movable. needles in theneedle-bed passages one after another forwardly and rearwardly andto'actuate'theneedlesof the needle bar, through relative movementofthelatter with-respect to the other needle row, simultaneously butseparately from the needles movable in the needle bed;

. For producing color-, fancy-, or openwork patterns, suitablelatch-needles areprovidedlwhich are rockablymounted in the needle barand which are adjustable, according to pattern, in the inoperative andoperative positions. The said needle bar by conventional meansconveniently is rackable laterally and vertically with respect to theother needle row.

The needle bar-for the purpose of manufacturing plain stitch hosiery orsingle-faced inlaid fabrics with one-andone or two-and-two borders, asdesiredsuitably is movable out of the operating range, and the cam boxcomprises a stationary and a swingable cam, these two cams beingreversible with respect to the needles for the purpose of varying thefunction after removing the carriage from its guides.

My present method as well as the knitting apparatus for carrying outsaid method shall be explained, by way of example, with the aid of theaccompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 shows a side view of theapparatus,

Fig. 2 illustrates the needle position during movement of the cam boxand yarn guide in direction of the arrow 2 Aalong the needle bed for thepurpose of producing double-face looped fabrics, Fig. 3 depictstherneedle position for transferring the loops by means. of a hook fromthe bar needlesto thebed needles,

Fig. 4 is a top plan viewof-thecam box,- in which the base plateis-shown in dash-and-dot lines, it beingassumed that the saidxplate ismoved indirection of the arrow A to produce plain hosiery,

Fig. 5 is. a top plan view similar to Fig 4, but under the assumptionthat the cam-box base plateis moved in direction of the arrow B,

Fig. 6 is another top plan view similar to Fig. 4, in which, however,the cams are reset, it-being assumed that the plate is moved indirection of the arrow A to produce one-face inlaid fabrics, and

Fig. 7 is still another top plan view, similar to Fig. 6, but under theassumption that the plate is moved in direction ofthe arrow B. V

In Fig. 1, the numeral 1 designates the :frame for the needle bed. 2 ofwhich the'latch needles 3 inoperation are individually and successivelymoved. The carriage 5 and the cam-box plate 6 together are movable alongthe needle bedZ intwo guide rails 4. On the plate6 are disposed two cams7 and 8. Ahandle 9serves for moving the carriage 5 along the needle bed2. Numeral 10 designates thethread-guidecarrier on carriage 5, whichcomprises the feeder 11 for thedraw-thread 12.. In the needlebar 13 at15 are. rockably mounted the latch needles 1L4.

The needle bar 13 atiboth ends has a handle 16.for moving the bar onguides vertically to formv sunkloops and, horizontally, to obtainrackedpatterns. Numeral 17 -'is a bail whichais-laterally withdrawablefrom.thebar 13 to. selectively position the needles 14, for. whichpurposewthenon-operative needles 14 are rocked on the elongated pin 15to the position shown in dash-and-dot lines iu'Fig. 1. An iron band 18rigidly secured toframe llserves-as stop, for the operativeneedles :14.

To. manufacture a..two-face looped fabric, the needles Sand 14 of the:two'rows have to'be in their operative position, and the needles 3inwbedtz have to be engaged to the: cams 7 and -8. as shown in Figs. 4and 5 respectively, whilst'thew needles14 of bar. 13 (which needlesarestaggered-with respect tothe needles '3) are in the position shown inFigs. 1 and 2. When moving the carriager-5rby means of handle 9 in. thedirection ofarrow Ain Figs. 2 and 4, i. .e. from left to right, thefeeder 11 delivers the draw-thread 12to all theoperative needles '3-and:1'4. As in the case of conventional knitting .ma-

chines, the: needles Siaresuccessively and. in sequence movedl forwardlyand'rearwardly in.- the. needle-bed passages. The thread 12 thereby iscaught by the hooks of the needles 3, and the loops formed by means ofthe thread then are passed through the previously formed needle loopswhich now slide over the needle latches which have been closed thereby,so as to produce knit loops on the respective fabric side. At the sametime, the thread by means of thread 12 is sunk through the needles 14 ofbar 13.

On completion of the stroke of carriage 5, the needle bar 13 by means ofthe two handles 16 is moved downwardly and upwardly, whereby the needleloops situated rearwardly of the latches of their needles 14 close thelatches and are thrown off onto the loops situated in the needle hooks.In this way are formed a row of sunk loops, i. e., loops as formed inconventional knitting frames. The carriage 5 then is moved in directionof the arrow B in Fig. 5, i. e. from right to left, to repeat theoperation.

By virtue of simultaneously casting off the needle loops through all thelatch needles 14, as is customary in knitpatterns desired. By selectlngthe needles 14 provided on the needle bar 13 and exchanging the feeder11, there may be produced color and fancy patterns for example. In Fig.3 is shown a position of the needle bar 13 or, respectively, of theneedles 14 from which the loops by means of a hook are transferred tothe adjacent needles 3 of the needle row of the bed 2.

It also is possible to produce fabrics of common hosiery or single-facedinlaid fabrics with a double-faced oneand-one or a two-and-two border.

The two-face rib is made from the two kinds of loops in the mannerdescribed above. On completion of the rib, the last row of sunk loops 19is transferred to the hooks of the needles 3 (Fig. 3). After the needlebar 13 has been moved out of the operating range, either common hosieryor single-faced inlaid fabrics are produced with the aid of the needles3 of bed 2.

Common hosiery is produced in the positions shown in Figs. 1, 4 and 5,of feeder 11 and cams 7 and 8. For producing single-faced inlaidfabrics, however, the carriage 5 after having been moved out of therange of the rails 4, is turned through 180 and reinserted into therails 4. The carrier with feeder 11 then is outside the working range ofthe apparatus, as shown in dash-anddot lines in Fig. 1, and the cams 7and 8 are correspondingly reversed with respect to each other, i. e. asshown in Figs. 6 and 7. All the needles 3 of bed 2 are advanced in theirpassages by means of a straight edge until the needle loops hanging fromthe needles 3 are situated to the rear of the open needle latches. Thethreads then are inserted into the needle hooks in accordance with thedesired inlaid color pattern, just as in the case of an inlay machinehaving a needle bed. To produce the loop row, the carriage 5 with thecams 7 and 8 then is moved in direction of the arrow A in Fig. 6, i. e.from left to right along the bed 2. When the carriage 5 has arrived onthe right-hand side of the apparatus, the threads are again put in theneedle hooks, and the carriage is moved in direction of the arrow B inFig. 7 back to its initial position on the left-hand side of theapparatus. After each stroke of the carriage 5, the cam 8 isautomatically tilted on its pivot pin into another position, asindicated in Figs. 6 and 7.

In another embodiment, not shown, the rocking cam 8 is replaced by twoconventional movable cams.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Method for the manufacture of knit goods by means of two rows ofstaggered latch needles which drop their loops in opposite directions toeach other, one of said rows being a horizontal row of needles and theother a'vertical row of needles comprising the steps of feeding threadby a feeder to the horizontal row of needles and to selected needles ofthe vertical row which are in operative position, moving the needles ofthe horizontal row forwardly and backwardly in succession by cams toproduce knit loops and subsequently moving all the selected iieedles ofthe vertical row simultaneously to form sunk oops.

2. A knitting machine for manufacturing knit goods comprising horizontaland vertical rows of staggered latch needles which drop their loops inopposite directions to each other, a needle bed for the horizontal rowof needles, feeder means for feeding thread to the horizontal row ofneedles and to selected needles of the vertical row which are in aworking position relative to the needles of the horizontal row, aslidable carriage movable over said bed, a cam plate, cam means on saidplate movable with said slidable carriage so as to move the needles ofthe horizontal row of needles forwardly and backwardly in said bed oneafter another to form knit loops and a needle bar supporting all of theneedles of the vertical row and which is movable upwardly and downwardlyand which serves to move selected of the vertical needles allsimultaneously to form sunk loops.

3. A knitting machine as set forth in claim 2 in which for the purposeof obtaining racked patterns and effects involving loop transfers handlemeans are provided for moving the needle bar and the latch needlessupported by the needle bar vertically as well as laterally relative tothe horizontal row of needles, and means for guiding said needle bar forlateral and vertical movement.

4. A knitting machine as set forth in claim 2, including means fortiltably supporting each of the latch needles carried by said needle barfrom said bar so that selected ones of such needles may be swungindividually from an operative into an inoperative position on saidneedle bar and vice versa for the purpose of producing color and fancypatterns.

5. A knitting machine as set forth in claim 2 in which for the purposeof manufacturing common hosiery and single-faced inlaid fabrics withone-and-one or two-andtwo borders as may be desired the needle bar ismovable out of the operating range, and in which said cam means includesa fixed cam and a pivoted cam, said two cams being reversible withrespect to the needles of the horizontal row for operating the latter asrequired respectively for manufacturing said common hosiery and saidsinglefaced inlaid fabrics.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.3,901 Penney Mar. 29, 1870 73,164 Chantrell Jan. 7, 1868 74,266 AbelFeb. 11, 1868 110,479 Leek et a1 Dec. 27, 1870 188,441 Tifiany Mar. 13,1877 389,592 Musgrove Sept. 18, 1888

